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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24446302">Through The Deserts Of Vol'dun</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarknessConsumesMe/pseuds/DarknessConsumesMe'>DarknessConsumesMe</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>World of Warcraft, World of Warcraft - Battle for Azeroth</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adventure &amp; Romance, Emperor Korthek, Escape, F/F, Fight Scene, Humanoid Snakes, Lesbian Snakes with long tails and tongues, Lesbians, Persecution, Refugees, Same Sex Couple with children, Sethrak Family, Vol'dun, World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth, Zandalar, same sex couple, sweet romance</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 10:00:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,882</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24446302</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarknessConsumesMe/pseuds/DarknessConsumesMe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The sethrak Lentara, her mate Sakara and their children are travelling through the deserts of Vol’dun for weeks. They are fleeing from assassins of the evil Emperor Korthek who have been ordered to kill them. To escape their pursuers the family has to find a safe place to hide but that was easier said than done.  </p>
<p>They don’t know how many assassins are following them nor do they know how long they will need to catch up to them. But the two females wouldn’t shrink back from fighting if necessary. They just want to protect their children and have a peaceful life. If only Korthek didn’t want their deaths.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Female Sethrak/ Female Sethrak, Original Character/Original Character</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Through The Deserts Of Vol'dun</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Sethraks are basically humanoid snakes so I decided to give them a cliché snake accent. To each s in the direct speech come two additional s. For example, the word ‘snake’ would be ‘sssnake’ and ‘first’ would be ‘firssst’. I hope that won’t confuse you. I wanted to do this short story as accurate as possible so I had to include the accent.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The sun was shining brightly but that didn't bother the travellers because they were used to the high temperatures in Vol'dun. Forty degrees was nothing for them. Other creatures would sweat a lot and wouldn't survive without lots of water or other refreshing liquids. The high temperatures would give other humanoid creatures hard times but not the travellers. The travellers enjoyed the warmth so did their mount on which they rode.</p>
<p>The sun was high up in the sky, blinding the travellers if they looked up too high. They avoided looking at the sun but sometimes they were unable to look away from it because they had to check their surroundings. They held their hands in front of their eyes while doing that but that only helped them a little.</p>
<p>Lentara regarded the surroundings curiously and watched out for possible threats. There were no creatures in their near. No enemy. No ally. All she could see was the desert that appeared to be endless.</p>
<p>Sand. There was only sand. Lentara was tired of the yellow landscape. They were travelling through the deserts for days and they hadn't spotted any village, base or building yet. All they had discovered were temple ruins, abandoned camps or destroyed villages. They had been looking for a place where they could take shelter for days but hadn't found any proper place. They hadn't been able to hide in the temple ruins because most of the former buildings had been missing. There had not been a single closed room in which they would have been able to hide and barricade themselves.</p>
<p>They had no other choice than to keep travelling and looking for a place to hide. There was no other way for them to survive because they were followed. Other members of their race were following the refugees. The pursuers would kill them if they would find them.</p>
<p>"Nothing but ruinsss and sssssand. I will lossse my mind if we will travel much longer through the desssert," hissed a familiar voice. Lentara turned her head and looked at her mate who was sitting next to her on the krolusk. Sakara's yellow eyes rested on the horizon. Her round pupils were smaller than usual, the expression on her face told Lentara that she was not amused.</p>
<p>"We have to get through thisss. I don't want to travel any further but we have no other choice," responded the other sethrak. Sakara turned her head, looking at the white-scaled humanoid snake. Her eyes stared into Lentara's. Unlike hers, Lentara's pupils had a vertical, elliptical shape. Sethraks differed from others not only in the shape of their pupils but also in the colour of their scales.</p>
<p>Lentara had white scales and there were several red lines in the inner side of her shield that was a part of her neck. Her head looked similar to the head of a king cobra, like the heads of all sethraks. Sakara looked a bit different. She didn't just have one scale colour. She had two.</p>
<p>Her torso, her neck, the inside of her shield, the underside of her upper arms and the underside of her long tail were covered by light-blue scales while the rest of her body was covered by blood-red scales. Basically, the upper side of her arms, the upper side of her tail and both upper side and underside of her legs were covered by red scales. She had a very unique appearance. Not many sethraks had two scale colours.</p>
<p>"You are right, my love," hissed the white scaled female and put a hand under her mate's chin, caressing it for a few moments. She removed her hand and put it back on the reins so, she could hold them with both hands. Sakara stared into her mate's red eyes for a few moments before she lowered her gaze and looked at their children.</p>
<p>Their son was only a few months old and not much taller than twenty inches. He had light-red scales and orange eyes with round pupils. He was not able to say any words so his only way to communicate with his parents was to stick out his tiny forked tongue and hiss. He was doing that at the moment. "Perrik ssseemsss to be hungry," concluded the multi-coloured sethrak.</p>
<p>"Feed him then, honey," responded the other female and spurred their mount, signalizing the big reptile to move faster. The krolusk may have six legs but it was very heavy so it wasn't able to move very fast. It was pretty old and therefore not the fastest. Lentara wished her krolusk would move faster but she knew she couldn't so she didn't spur it any further.</p>
<p>Sakara turned her head and looked at their daughter who was four years old. "Would you get sssomething to eat for your little brother?"</p>
<p>The pale-blue scaled girl nodded and reached out for the bags behind the large saddle. She opened one of them and took out a small box. The box was enchanted by a spell which preserved the content much longer. It was like a small portable fridge. The girl removed the lid and pulled a rat out, giving it to her mother.</p>
<p>"Thank you, Kenja," responded Sakara and held the dead animal in front of her son's tiny head. His pupils widened and his hissing became much louder. He was looking forward to devouring his meal. He stretched his arms out, his tiny hands grabbed the rat and brought it closer to his head. He opened his mouth wide enough so that he could devour the rat that was much taller than his head.</p>
<p>Sakara watched her son swallowing his meal, stroking his tiny head once he was finished. "Are you hungry too, Kenja?"</p>
<p>The girl shook her head. "I ate daysss ago, ssso I'm sssatisssfied for the next few daysss." Sakara nodded and looked at her mate. "And you, honey?"</p>
<p>"I'm not feeling hungry yet. We ssshould only eat when necessssssary. We mussst be frugal with our food. We haven't crossssssed many animalsss we could eat in the passst few daysss. We alwaysss have to expect to find no food in this desssert," explained Lentara.</p>
<p>"You are right, my love," responded the smaller sethrak.</p>
<p>"How long do we need to leave thisss boring desssert behind usss, mommy? " asked Kenja impatiently.</p>
<p>"I have no idea, sssweetheart. We can only hope that we will come to a village or a temple where we are welcome."</p>
<p>"Why do we have to flee, mommy?"</p>
<p>Sakara sighed. "It isss complicated. You are too young to understand politicsss. Let'sss sssay that we don't agree with Emperor Korthek and hisss goalsss. He killsss anyone who opposssesss him, so we have to flee to make sssure we ssssurvive. I don't want anything to happen to you, your brother or your mother."</p>
<p>"Your mommy isss right, Kenja. Your sssafety issss more important than anything elssse," responded Lentara. Her eyes still rested on the path in front of them while her daughter's eyes rested on her as she regarded her curiously.</p>
<p>"How many people are following usss?"</p>
<p>"I have no idea, to be honessst."</p>
<p>Kenja still sounded worried. "Are they far away from usss? Do we have to hurry?"</p>
<p>"They are not in our sssight but that doesssn't have to mean anything. They could be invisssible and much clossser to usss than we are expecting. It could alssso be possssssible that we have managed to ssshake them off. Who knowsss? Neverthelessssss, we ssshould travel asss fast asss possssssible."</p>
<p>Kenja put her hand on one of the krolusk's large scales, caressing it carefully. "Thornssspine walksss asss fassst asss ssshe can, right?"</p>
<p>Sakara agreed. "Ssshe doesss, you are right about that. But ssshe isss pretty old and not asss fassst asss ssshe had once been in her prime. But ssshe givesss her bessst and I'm happy that we managed to free her before we left the village."</p>
<p>"I missssss my friendsss," Kenja said after a while. Sakara wrapped her arm around the little humanoid snake and pulled her closer, her other arm was wrapped around Perrik who was still sitting on her lap and regarding the surroundings.</p>
<p>"I missssss mine too, little one. But we won't be able to sssee them again asss long assss we are followed."</p>
<p>"And when will they ssstop following usss?"</p>
<p>Her mommy shrugged. "They won't ssstop following usss asss long asss Korthek reignsss."</p>
<p>"Ssso Korthek hasss to go," concluded the young sethrak.</p>
<p>The white-scaled sethrak nodded. "We can only hope that sssomeone will take care of him. Asss long asss he livesss, we have to flee and hope that sssomeone allowsss usss to live in their houssse, hidesss and protectsss usss."</p>
<p>The girl nodded and stared at the horizon, not saying anything else. She held her mommy's hand while they rode on the krolusk. Lentara noticed that her mount was getting more and more tired. She knew that the female krolusk had to rest otherwise it would collapse sooner or later. Unfortunately, there was no place in their sight where they could rest. They had to find a water source but most of them had been dried out over time.</p>
<p>There were only a few water sources left in the desert of Vol'dun. The two sethraks didn't know where these water sources were nor did they know where they were at the moment. They were just travelling to the west, hoping that they find a place where they could take shelter and stay the night.</p>
<p>A few hours passed in which they didn't discover anything. They had avoided a few young and wild krolusks which had appeared to be very aggressive. They had not the time to deal with these beautiful but also very dangerous animals. They didn't know how far away their followers were from them and they didn't want to kill any of these creatures.</p>
<p>Lentara had noticed that Thornspine had been very disturbed while being near her fellow species. She didn't know why her otherwise calm mount had acted so weirdly in their near. She could only assume that Thornspine had sensed something she couldn't sense. Maybe her fellow species had behaved differently and the old krolusk had noticed that. She had no idea what her reliable companion had noticed and she was sure she would never find it out.</p>
<p>The family arrived in front of the ruins of a small abandoned temple. It was much smaller than the other temple ruins they had crossed since the beginning of their journey but this building was less destroyed than the previous ones. There was even a section of the building that was not destroyed at all. A closed section where no one could see them from outside.</p>
<p>Lentara made her mount stop in front of the building, her gaze roamed over the building. It looked like a perfect hideout for the night.</p>
<p>"It will be dark in a few hoursss and I doubt we will find a hideout which isss better than thisss one," said Lentara.</p>
<p>Her mate turned her head to look at her. "Are you sssuggesssting us to ssspend the night in thessse ruinsss?"</p>
<p>The white scaled sethrak nodded. "I doubt we will find a better one before nightfall."</p>
<p>"What about Thornssspine? She won't fit through the doors. We can't leave her outssside."</p>
<p>Lentara made a thoughtful face. "You are right about that. I think there isss only one option for her. She hasss to dig herssself in the sssand, otherwissse Korthek'sss men will know that we are here. They know how Thronssspine looksss like. Ssshe isss much taller than the average krolusssk and not many membersss of her race have a red bony plate. They will know that we are here if they dissscover her. Ssshe isss. Asss unique asss you are, my love." She put a hand under Sakara's chin, caressing it while staring into her eyes.</p>
<p>"We ssshouldn't wait for too long. We ssshould get inssside quickly before anyone ssspotsss usss," responded Sakara. Lentara dismounted, picked her daughter up from her mount and helped her mate, who pressed Perrick against her chest, to dismount.</p>
<p>Sakara thanked her and regarded her mate for a few moments before she walked towards the temple's closed door. "Let me open the door and check if no one is in there," the white humanoid snake said, receiving an agreeing nod from her mate.</p>
<p>Lentara was taller and more muscular than her mate so it would be easier for her to push the massive door open. The door was heavy but the hunter had no problem opening it wide enough so that she could enter the room. She was carrying her spear, which was made out of glass and many firm materials that could only be found in Vol'dun, in her hands in case someone would attack her.</p>
<p>Sakara was standing in front of her children in case an enemy would come out and attack them. Kenja was holding her little brother who had no idea what was going on. He was just looking at his sister, an expressionless look was visible on his face. Sakara's wand rested on her back and she had already prepared a spell in case an enemy would step out of the temple. Fortunately for her, no stranger came. Lentara returned a few moments later, signalizing her family that the section was clear. She ordered her mount to dig itself into the sand and the krolusk obeyed without hesitation.</p>
<p>The family grabbed their backpacks and entered the temple together, checking their surroundings. There was a half-destroyed statue of a sethrak at the end of the room next to which pieces of rubble were laying. The wall behind the statue was damaged but there were no holes in it. Nobody was able to look into the room from outside. Except for the statue, the pieces of rubble and the altar in the middle, the room was completely empty. No furniture or undamaged decorating elements were there.</p>
<p>There were no other doors, meaning the heavy door was the only exit and entrance to the room. That had positives and negatives aspects.</p>
<p>The females only had to guard one entrance but, on the other hand, it was the only way to flee in case someone would enter the section. The lovers knew that they had to take a closer look at the surroundings and spot any enemy before they would come too close to the temple.</p>
<p>"We have to take turnsss guarding the entrance. One sssleepsss while the other watchesss out for enemiesss."</p>
<p>"Sssoundsss like a plan. Do you want to do the firssst ssshift or the sssecond, honey?" Sakara asked.</p>
<p>"I don't really care becaussse I'm not feeling tired yet. Do you feel tired, my love?"</p>
<p>Sakara nodded. "I would like to ressst now if you don't mind." Lentara stared into her mate's eyes for a few moments, then she leaned in and pressed her lips against Sakara's. Unlike the lips of other humanoid creatures, the lips of sethrak's were not soft at all but they were not as firm as their skin. But that didn't stop the two females from sharing a very passionate kiss. They held the kiss for a few moments, then they parted but their faces were still very close. Lentara's forked tongue darted out of her mouth and licked over the red snout of her lover, making the other woman giggle.</p>
<p>"You can't ssstop doing that, sssilly woman," said Sakara and wrapped her tail around the hips of the taller woman. Lentara's lips formed a smile. "I will never ssstop ssshowing you how much I love you."</p>
<p>The snake with the two scale colours tightened the grip of her tail and pulled her mate closer until their bodies almost touched. They stared at each other and hissed affectionately. They kissed again and stuck their tongues in each other's mouth, sharing a passionate and long-lasting tongue kiss. They knew each other since quite some time and had kissed so often that they knew each other's mouth and tongue like the back of their hands. They didn't need to fear that their long and thin forked tongues would accidentally become knotted. That had happened a few times when they had started dating but it hadn't happened for nearly two decades.</p>
<p>They smiled at each other when they pulled away but Sakara didn't remove her tail yet. Lentara was still trapped and wouldn't be able to get free as long as Sakara's tail was wrapped around her lower body. She was at Sakara's mercy and the smaller woman loved that. But Sakara also knew that it was not the right time and the right place to do that. It was mating season, which meant that her feelings were out of control but she was still able to control herself and wouldn't do inappropriate things in front of the eyes of her children.</p>
<p>In contrast to her protesting instincts, she released her companion and allowed her to walk over to her children who were still regarding their mothers and wondering what was going on. The white sethrak squatted down next to them and hugged them, caressing their heads with her fingers. "You ssshould get sssome sssleep, little onesss. It wasss a hard day and we will ssset off early in the morning. Sssleep while you ssstill can."</p>
<p>"Would you read a bedtime ssstory to usss, mother?" asked Kenja and looked at her mother with big eyes. Lentara smiled. "I wisssh I could but I have to watch out for any pursssuersss. But your mommy would love to read a bedtime ssstory to you."</p>
<p>Kenja's gaze landed on her mommy, her eyes reflected hope. "Would you, mommy?"</p>
<p>Sakara nodded and gave her daughter a wide smile. "Of courssse I would."</p>
<p>Lentara watched her family for a few moments before she turned around and walked over to the exit, leaving the room and closing the door behind her. As expected, Thornspine was nowhere to be seen. She had dug herself into the ground and was waiting for the command of her mistress to dig herself out. The old reptile knew that she would have to stay beneath the ground for a while, so she didn't expect to hear her mistress' voice soon. That way, she was able to rest and recover from the exhausting march she had done.</p>
<p>Lentara looked at the horizon, regarding the sun that was slowly setting. She guessed that night will fall in less than an hour. She didn't spot anyone, so she was relieved for the moment. She didn't know where the pursuers were nor did she know how many they were. She could only hope they wouldn't find them. She wanted nothing more than a quiet night where no incidents would happen. That ruin was not the safest place but it was better than nothing.</p>
<p>Her mate and their children needed a pause. They had travelled for nearly a week without getting much sleep. They needed to rest, otherwise, they would collapse sooner or later. And Lentara didn't want that. She wanted nothing more than protecting her family. She had to make sure that her family wouldn't get hurt, collapse because of lack of sleep or starve. She would do anything to guarantee their safety and well-being.</p>
<p>Lentara and her mate would watch over the ruins and set off shortly after sunset. They couldn't rest for too long because Korthek's men were still following them. The nights in Vol'Dun were not long, so they wouldn't lose too much time. It was the best choice to rest. Travelling through the deserts of Vol'Dun at night was very dangerous. There were dangerous predators that only came out at night and attacked anyone who would cross their path.</p>
<p>Because of that, they had only travelled at night when they had had no other choice. Mainly because they hadn't found a suitable hiding place. But now they had found one, so they could finally rest.</p>
<p>Lentara walked along the ruins of the temple and climbed the first stairs she found. She climbed on the remains of a small tower and hid behind the remains of the battlements, letting her gaze wander clockwise every few minutes. It was impossible to keep an eye on all directions at once, so it was possible that she would miss someone who would come from a direction she was not looking at the moment. But she had no other choice than regarding her surroundings from this position.</p>
<p>At least she was able to take a closer look at two of the four directions at the same time. If Sakara would be there, all four directions would be covered up but Lentara knew that her mate needed rest very badly. Besides, she had to take care of their children because they were not old enough to take care of themselves. An adult had to be in their near in case they would stumble and hit their heads on the floor or hurt themselves otherwise.</p>
<p>The first half of Lentara's shift was quiet. She had troubles keeping her eyes open from time to time but she managed to keep herself awake. In the first hour and a half, nothing had happened. But then she noticed the shapes of creatures in the dark. She heard footsteps from afar. She was a hunter, so she had trained her hearing for decades and was able to hear most creatures from a far distance.</p>
<p>Someone was coming closer, she was sure of that. Her narrowed eyes rested on the direction from which she heard the steps. But she didn't see anyone. It was too dark to recognize anything. She had two options. She could either wait until she would see someone or she could get into the room and warn her family immediately. Her instincts told her to get ready for a fight. It was still possible that the creatures she heard weren't their pursuers but she doubted that. Her instincts told her that Korthek's men were the ones she heard.</p>
<p>She decided it was best to wake her mate and inform her about the situation. She had to make a decision with her about what they should do. Lentara climbed down the little tower, hurried to the stairs and climbed them down too. She walked over to the entrance without making any noise, opened the heavy door a little and slipped in the room, closing the door quietly.</p>
<p>She hurried over to her mate who was sleeping peacefully next to their children on a thick, outspread piece of cloth. Their bodies were covered by a blanket. The hunter squatted next to her mate and put a hand on her shoulder, shaking her carefully. Sakara had always had a light sleep so the white sethrak was able to wake her quickly without waking their children.</p>
<p>Sakara's yellow eyes found hers. "What'sss wrong?"</p>
<p>"Sssomeone isss coming clossser. I have no idea who it isss and how many are coming but my instinct tellsss me that Korthrek'sss men are the onesss out there."</p>
<p>Sakara's eyes widened, worry was reflected by her face. "What do we do?"</p>
<p>"Hide the little onesss and hope no one opensss the door."</p>
<p>"What if they open the door?" the red-blue sethrak asked.</p>
<p>"Then we will fight," responded Lentara determinedly.</p>
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